Other Obligations	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2017
Other Obligations
Other Obligations	12. Other Obligations Accounts Receivable Securitization Program In January 2013, we formed Cloud Peak Energy Receivables LLC, a special purpose, bankruptcy-remote 100% owned subsidiary, to purchase, subject to certain exclusions, in a true sale, trade receivables generated by certain of our subsidiaries without recourse (other than customary indemnification obligations for breaches of specific representations and warranties) and then transfer undivided interests of those accounts receivable to a financial institution for cash borrowings for our ultimate benefit. On February 11, 2013, we executed an Accounts Receivable Securitization Program (“A/R Securitization Program”) with a committed capacity of up to $75 million. The total borrowings are limited by eligible accounts receivable, as defined under the terms of the A/R Securitization Program. On January 31, 2017, the A/R Securitization Program was amended to extend the term of the A/R Securitization Program to January 23, 2020, allow for the ability to issue letters of credit, and revise the maximum borrowing capacity for both cash and letters of credit to $70 million. All other terms of the program remained substantially the same. As of December 31, 2017, the A/R Securitization Program would have allowed for $21.9 million of borrowing capacity, which was less than the undrawn face amount of letters of credit outstanding under the A/R Securitization Program of $23 million as of December 31, 2017. The $1.1 million difference between the borrowing capacity and the undrawn face amount of the letters of credit outstanding was cash-collateralized into a restricted cash account in early January 2018, thus bringing the borrowing capacity to zero. There were no borrowings outstanding from the A/R Securitization Program as of December 31, 2017 or December 31, 2016. Cloud Peak Energy Receivables LLC is included in our Consolidated Financial Statements. Credit Agreement On February 21, 2014, Cloud Peak Energy Resources LLC entered into a five-year Credit Agreement with PNC Bank, National Association, as administrative agent, and a syndicate of lenders, which was amended on September 5, 2014 and September 9, 2016 (as amended, the “Credit Agreement”). The Credit Agreement provides us with a senior secured revolving credit facility with a capacity of up to $400 million that can be used to borrow funds or obtain letters of credit. The borrowing capacity under the Credit Agreement is reduced by the undrawn face amount of letters of credit issued and outstanding, which may be up to $250 million at any time. The September 9, 2016 Second Amendment to the Credit Agreement (the “Second Amendment”) replaced the quarterly EBITDA-based financial covenants that previously required us to (a) maintain defined minimum levels of interest coverage and (b) comply with a maximum net secured debt leverage ratio. These financial covenants were replaced with a new monthly minimum liquidity covenant that requires us to maintain liquidity, as defined in the Credit Agreement, of not less than $125 million as of the last day of each month. The Second Amendment reduced the maximum borrowing capacity under the Credit Agreement to $400 million, from the previous maximum capacity of $500 million. It also revised the permitted debt covenant and permitted lien covenant to allow the issuance of second lien debt in an amount up to $350 million. Additionally, it revised various negative covenants and baskets that would apply to, among other things, the incurrence of debt, making investments, asset dispositions and restricted payments. Lastly, it established a requirement for deposit account control agreements with the administrative agent for certain of our deposit accounts. The Second Amendment did not change the maturity of the Credit Agreement, which remains February 21, 2019. Loans under the Credit Agreement bear interest at the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) plus an applicable margin of 3.50%. We pay the lenders a commitment fee of 0.50% per year on the unused amount of the Credit Agreement. Letters of credit issued under the Credit Agreement, unless drawn upon, will incur a per annum fee from the date at which they are issued of 3.50%. Letters of credit that are drawn upon may be converted to loans at our request, subject to the conditions to borrowing set forth in the Credit Agreement. In addition, in connection with the issuance of a letter of credit, we are required to pay the issuing bank a fronting fee of 0.125% per annum. Prior to the Second Amendment, loans under the Credit Agreement bore interest at the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) plus an applicable margin of 2.00% to 2.75%, depending on our net total leverage to EBITDA ratio. We paid the lenders a commitment fee between 0.375% and 0.50% per year, depending on our net total leverage to EBITDA ratio, on the unused amount of the Credit Agreement. Letters of credit issued under the Credit Agreement, unless drawn upon, incurred a per annum fee from the date at which they were issued between 2.00% and 2.75% depending on our net total leverage to EBITDA ratio. Letters of credit that were drawn upon were converted to loans. In addition, in connection with the issuance of a letter of credit, we were required to pay the issuing bank a fronting fee of 0.125% per annum. Our obligations under the Credit Agreement are secured by substantially all of our assets and substantially all of the assets of certain of our subsidiaries, subject to certain permitted liens and customary exceptions for similar coal financings. Our obligations under the Credit Agreement are also supported by a guarantee by CPE Inc. and our domestic restricted subsidiaries. Under the Credit Agreement, the subsidiaries of CPE Inc. are permitted to make distributions to CPE Inc. to enable it to pay federal, state and local income and certain other taxes it incurs that are attributable to the business and operations of its subsidiaries. In addition, as long as no default under the Credit Agreement exists, the subsidiaries of CPE Inc. also may make annual distributions to CPE Inc. to fund dividends or repurchases of CPE Inc.’s stock and additional distributions in accordance with certain distribution limits in the Credit Agreement. Finally, the subsidiaries of CPE Inc. may make loans to CPE Inc. subject to certain limitations in the Credit Agreement. As of December 31, 2017, we had no borrowings or letters of credit outstanding under the Credit Agreement. As of December 31, 2016, there were no borrowings and the undrawn face amount of letters of credit outstanding under the Credit Agreement was $67.5 million. We were in compliance with the covenants contained in the Credit Agreement as of December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016. We intend to extend or replace the Credit Agreement before its maturity in February 2019 and currently expect that any replacement facility will be significantly smaller than our current Credit Agreement. See Item 1A “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Indebtedness and Liquidity—Our Credit Agreement provides an important source of our overall liquidity. We will need to extend or replace the Credit agreement before its maturity in February 2019. If we are unable to successfully extend or replace the Credit Agreement in a timely manner, our future financial condition and liquidity may be materially adversely affected.” Liquidity During the first quarter of 2017, we completed a public offering of 13.5 million additional shares of common stock and received proceeds, net of underwriting discounts and commissions, of $64.7 million. We used these proceeds to fully redeem the 2019 Notes in the first quarter of 2017. Our aggregate availability for borrowing under the Credit Agreement and the A/R Securitization Program was approximately $400.0 million as of December 31, 2017. Our total liquidity, which includes cash and cash equivalents and amounts available under both our Credit Agreement and the A/R Securitization Program, was $507.9 million as of December 31, 2017. As of December 31, 2017, there were no letters of credit outstanding under the Credit Agreement. There were $23 million undrawn face amount of letters of credit outstanding under the A/R Securitization Program as of December 31, 2017, a decrease in total letters of credit outstanding of $44.5 million from December 31, 2016, due to a decrease in the amount of surety bonds required as well as lower collateral required for bonding. The recently enacted tax legislation, commonly referred to as the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (“TCJA”), made significant changes to U.S. tax laws. The material immediate impact of TCJA to us is the elimination of the corporate alternative minimum tax (“AMT”), and the ability to offset our regular tax liability or claim refunds for taxable years 2018 through 2021 for AMT credits carried forward from prior periods. We currently anticipate we will realize approximately $30 million in AMT value over the next four years with approximately half of this value realized in 2019 for taxable year 2018. See Note 15 for further discussion. Debt Issuance Costs There were $4.4 million and $7.7 million of unamortized debt issuance costs as of December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively, related to the A/R Securitization Program and the Credit Agreement included in noncurrent Other assets in the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

12. Other Obligations

Accounts Receivable Securitization Program

In January 2013, we formed Cloud Peak Energy Receivables LLC, a special purpose, bankruptcy-remote 100% owned subsidiary, to purchase, subject to certain exclusions, in a true sale, trade receivables generated by certain of our subsidiaries without recourse (other than customary indemnification obligations for breaches of specific representations and warranties) and then transfer undivided interests of those accounts receivable to a financial institution for cash borrowings for our ultimate benefit. On February 11, 2013, we executed an Accounts Receivable Securitization Program (“A/R Securitization Program”) with a committed capacity of up to $75 million. The total borrowings are limited by eligible accounts receivable, as defined under the terms of the A/R Securitization Program. On January 31, 2017, the A/R Securitization Program was amended to extend the term of the A/R Securitization Program to January 23, 2020, allow for the ability to issue letters of credit, and revise the maximum borrowing capacity for both cash and letters of credit to $70 million. All other terms of the program remained substantially the same. As of December 31, 2017, the A/R Securitization Program would have allowed for $21.9 million of borrowing capacity, which was less than the undrawn face amount of letters of credit outstanding under the A/R Securitization Program of $23 million as of December 31, 2017. The $1.1 million difference between the borrowing capacity and the undrawn face amount of the letters of credit outstanding was cash-collateralized into a restricted cash account in early January 2018, thus bringing the borrowing capacity to zero. There were no borrowings outstanding from the A/R Securitization Program as of December 31, 2017 or December 31, 2016. Cloud Peak Energy Receivables LLC is included in our Consolidated Financial Statements.

Credit Agreement

On February 21, 2014, Cloud Peak Energy Resources LLC entered into a five-year Credit Agreement with PNC Bank, National Association, as administrative agent, and a syndicate of lenders, which was amended on September 5, 2014 and September 9, 2016 (as amended, the “Credit Agreement”). The Credit Agreement provides us with a senior secured revolving credit facility with a capacity of up to $400 million that can be used to borrow funds or obtain letters of credit. The borrowing capacity under the Credit Agreement is reduced by the undrawn face amount of letters of credit issued and outstanding, which may be up to $250 million at any time.

The September 9, 2016 Second Amendment to the Credit Agreement (the “Second Amendment”) replaced the quarterly EBITDA-based financial covenants that previously required us to (a) maintain defined minimum levels of interest coverage and (b) comply with a maximum net secured debt leverage ratio. These financial covenants were replaced with a new monthly minimum liquidity covenant that requires us to maintain liquidity, as defined in the Credit Agreement, of not less than $125 million as of the last day of each month. The Second Amendment reduced the maximum borrowing capacity under the Credit Agreement to $400 million, from the previous maximum capacity of $500 million. It also revised the permitted debt covenant and permitted lien covenant to allow the issuance of second lien debt in an amount up to $350 million. Additionally, it revised various negative covenants and baskets that would apply to, among other things, the incurrence of debt, making investments, asset dispositions and restricted payments. Lastly, it established a requirement for deposit account control agreements with the administrative agent for certain of our deposit accounts. The Second Amendment did not change the maturity of the Credit Agreement, which remains February 21, 2019.

Loans under the Credit Agreement bear interest at the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) plus an applicable margin of 3.50%. We pay the lenders a commitment fee of 0.50% per year on the unused amount of the Credit Agreement. Letters of credit issued under the Credit Agreement, unless drawn upon, will incur a per annum fee from the date at which they are issued of 3.50%. Letters of credit that are drawn upon may be converted to loans at our request, subject to the conditions to borrowing set forth in the Credit Agreement. In addition, in connection with the issuance of a letter of credit, we are required to pay the issuing bank a fronting fee of 0.125% per annum.

Prior to the Second Amendment, loans under the Credit Agreement bore interest at the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) plus an applicable margin of 2.00% to 2.75%, depending on our net total leverage to EBITDA ratio. We paid the lenders a commitment fee between 0.375% and 0.50% per year, depending on our net total leverage to EBITDA ratio, on the unused amount of the Credit Agreement. Letters of credit issued under the Credit Agreement, unless drawn upon, incurred a per annum fee from the date at which they were issued between 2.00% and 2.75% depending on our net total leverage to EBITDA ratio. Letters of credit that were drawn upon were converted to loans. In addition, in connection with the issuance of a letter of credit, we were required to pay the issuing bank a fronting fee of 0.125% per annum.

Our obligations under the Credit Agreement are secured by substantially all of our assets and substantially all of the assets of certain of our subsidiaries, subject to certain permitted liens and customary exceptions for similar coal financings. Our obligations under the Credit Agreement are also supported by a guarantee by CPE Inc. and our domestic restricted subsidiaries.

Under the Credit Agreement, the subsidiaries of CPE Inc. are permitted to make distributions to CPE Inc. to enable it to pay federal, state and local income and certain other taxes it incurs that are attributable to the business and operations of its subsidiaries. In addition, as long as no default under the Credit Agreement exists, the subsidiaries of CPE Inc. also may make annual distributions to CPE Inc. to fund dividends or repurchases of CPE Inc.’s stock and additional distributions in accordance with certain distribution limits in the Credit Agreement. Finally, the subsidiaries of CPE Inc. may make loans to CPE Inc. subject to certain limitations in the Credit Agreement.

As of December 31, 2017, we had no borrowings or letters of credit outstanding under the Credit Agreement. As of December 31, 2016, there were no borrowings and the undrawn face amount of letters of credit outstanding under the Credit Agreement was $67.5 million. We were in compliance with the covenants contained in the Credit Agreement as of December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016.

We intend to extend or replace the Credit Agreement before its maturity in February 2019 and currently expect that any replacement facility will be significantly smaller than our current Credit Agreement. See Item 1A “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Indebtedness and Liquidity—Our Credit Agreement provides an important source of our overall liquidity. We will need to extend or replace the Credit agreement before its maturity in February 2019. If we are unable to successfully extend or replace the Credit Agreement in a timely manner, our future financial condition and liquidity may be materially adversely affected.”

Liquidity

During the first quarter of 2017, we completed a public offering of 13.5 million additional shares of common stock and received proceeds, net of underwriting discounts and commissions, of $64.7 million. We used these proceeds to fully redeem the 2019 Notes in the first quarter of 2017.

Our aggregate availability for borrowing under the Credit Agreement and the A/R Securitization Program was approximately $400.0 million as of December 31, 2017. Our total liquidity, which includes cash and cash equivalents and amounts available under both our Credit Agreement and the A/R Securitization Program, was $507.9 million as of December 31, 2017.

As of December 31, 2017, there were no letters of credit outstanding under the Credit Agreement. There were $23 million undrawn face amount of letters of credit outstanding under the A/R Securitization Program as of December 31, 2017, a decrease in total letters of credit outstanding of $44.5 million from December 31, 2016, due to a decrease in the amount of surety bonds required as well as lower collateral required for bonding.

The recently enacted tax legislation, commonly referred to as the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (“TCJA”), made significant changes to U.S. tax laws. The material immediate impact of TCJA to us is the elimination of the corporate alternative minimum tax (“AMT”), and the ability to offset our regular tax liability or claim refunds for taxable years 2018 through 2021 for AMT credits carried forward from prior periods. We currently anticipate we will realize approximately $30 million in AMT value over the next four years with approximately half of this value realized in 2019 for taxable year 2018. See Note 15 for further discussion.

Debt Issuance Costs

There were $4.4 million and $7.7 million of unamortized debt issuance costs as of December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively, related to the A/R Securitization Program and the Credit Agreement included in noncurrent Other assets in the Consolidated Balance Sheets.